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Rav Weinberger discusses the importance of prayer, and Amalek's main strategy in trying to destroy us. As always, it's worth listening to.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Entering Into Adar
This is a shiur that Rav Moshe Weinberger gave several years ago at Derech HaMelech, a wonderful yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Rav Weinberger discusses the importance of prayer, and Amalek's main strategy in trying to destroy us. As always, it's worth listening to.
Rav Weinberger discusses the importance of prayer, and Amalek's main strategy in trying to destroy us. As always, it's worth listening to.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The importance of context
A certain book came out recently about a famous 20th century Jewish leader who was instrumental in shaping much of American Jewry, one way or another. A tzaddik and talmid chochom by all accounts, this luminary had views and opinions which were not always very popular nor in congruence with other leaders in the Jewish world. However, as fiercely as this gadol may have advocated for his beliefs and halachic rulings, it's well known that he venerated his contemporaries and respected them wholeheartedly.
While this book seeks to lay out the tzaddik's positions on certain issues in a detailed, carefully explained manner, the biographical accounts are sorely lacking in that same painstaking awareness. There are certain anecdotes in the volume that can - and are - misrepresented in an awful way. I'm actually surprised that I haven't heard anything about calls for this book to be banned, due to the potentially inflammatory material in the book.
In one episode, this rav is being questioned about why his community's yeshivot don't emulate the style of the other communities' systems of learning, who seem to enjoy success in the level of scholarship. The rav replies that the other school of thought's success stems from their focus on boyche sevoros (an insinuation that they place esteem on pseudo-intellectual dialectics that stem from an egocentric, misinformed understanding) rather than emes (truth) in learning.
Another story relates how the rav once commented that no significant poskim (halachic authorities/arbiters) ever emerged from the other community's system.
Taken at face value, these stories present this rav in a very bad light, casting a pall on his legacy. From these stories, one can be led to believe that this rav was a harsh, ignorant man, which is the furthest thing from the truth. It's preposterous to claim that this rav honestly felt this way about the other school's style; while the egocentricity may present itself as an issue, the rav certainly did not mean to invalidate that style of learning. What may have occurred in that instance was that the rav was encountering an individual who wouldn't understand the varying reasons, or wouldn't be mollified in any case.
As for the second story, it's obvious that the rav would not say such a thing seriously. He was contemporaries with some of the greatest tzaddikim of the past generation: Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Aharon Kotler, the Chazon Ish...he dealt with them constantly and recognized their greatness. I don't claim to know why he made such a statement, but to publish it in this volume only serves to start machlokes.
The task of conveying nuance in prose is an extremely difficult skill, and one must make sure that the context and tone of the story is fully conveyed. I don't know the author, nor can I claim to understand his motives for publishing this book. Aside from these stories, the book is a very good - and important - read, especially if you would like to gain an insight into what this rav was encountering and trying to accomplish in those early days of American Jewry. But the author should have been more responsible concerning these glimpses into the rav's day-to-day dealings; the fact that he can source them to other books means nothing, for the same reason that they are meaningless in his book: context.
While this book seeks to lay out the tzaddik's positions on certain issues in a detailed, carefully explained manner, the biographical accounts are sorely lacking in that same painstaking awareness. There are certain anecdotes in the volume that can - and are - misrepresented in an awful way. I'm actually surprised that I haven't heard anything about calls for this book to be banned, due to the potentially inflammatory material in the book.
In one episode, this rav is being questioned about why his community's yeshivot don't emulate the style of the other communities' systems of learning, who seem to enjoy success in the level of scholarship. The rav replies that the other school of thought's success stems from their focus on boyche sevoros (an insinuation that they place esteem on pseudo-intellectual dialectics that stem from an egocentric, misinformed understanding) rather than emes (truth) in learning.
Another story relates how the rav once commented that no significant poskim (halachic authorities/arbiters) ever emerged from the other community's system.
Taken at face value, these stories present this rav in a very bad light, casting a pall on his legacy. From these stories, one can be led to believe that this rav was a harsh, ignorant man, which is the furthest thing from the truth. It's preposterous to claim that this rav honestly felt this way about the other school's style; while the egocentricity may present itself as an issue, the rav certainly did not mean to invalidate that style of learning. What may have occurred in that instance was that the rav was encountering an individual who wouldn't understand the varying reasons, or wouldn't be mollified in any case.
As for the second story, it's obvious that the rav would not say such a thing seriously. He was contemporaries with some of the greatest tzaddikim of the past generation: Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Aharon Kotler, the Chazon Ish...he dealt with them constantly and recognized their greatness. I don't claim to know why he made such a statement, but to publish it in this volume only serves to start machlokes.
The task of conveying nuance in prose is an extremely difficult skill, and one must make sure that the context and tone of the story is fully conveyed. I don't know the author, nor can I claim to understand his motives for publishing this book. Aside from these stories, the book is a very good - and important - read, especially if you would like to gain an insight into what this rav was encountering and trying to accomplish in those early days of American Jewry. But the author should have been more responsible concerning these glimpses into the rav's day-to-day dealings; the fact that he can source them to other books means nothing, for the same reason that they are meaningless in his book: context.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Click on the image to enlarge it.
I found this here.
Yaakov Dovid Shulman is a versatile writer/translator/biographer/poet whose work appears in many books from both mainstream and independent Jewish publishing houses. He has translated B'nei Machshava Tova, as well as a primer of Breslov teachings, among many other things, and has made many of his works available for free online.
I found this here.
Yaakov Dovid Shulman is a versatile writer/translator/biographer/poet whose work appears in many books from both mainstream and independent Jewish publishing houses. He has translated B'nei Machshava Tova, as well as a primer of Breslov teachings, among many other things, and has made many of his works available for free online.
Hitting 'em where it hurts*
If you say that the chazzan can't learn, and the rabbi can't sing, then you're speaking lashon hora.What a powerful lesson!
But if you say that the chazzan can't sing, and the rabbi can't learn...then you are committing murder.
- Reb Yisroel Lipkin of Salant
When we denigrate someone in general, that person may or may not be able to just shrug it off. But if we attack what characterizes them, what they put their efforts into and the strengths they pride themselves in having, we're engaging in utter cruelty.
Validating others is so important, especially when it comes to acknowledging their abilities in their chosen field...
* inspired by a post on Neil Harris' blog
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Meditation: A Cognitive Perspective
Last semester, I had to write a twenty page research paper on any subject of my choosing, provided that it had something to do with Cognitive psychology. As long as there was enough research on the subject I chose, I could write on any topic.
As meditation is one of my interests, I decided to search for scientific data concerning the effects of meditation, in a physiological, psychological, and neurological sense. While there are preliminary studies being done, unfortunately there isn't really all that much research available. Nonetheless, I was able to find enough to squeeze the paper out, and I hope that more progress will be made in this area of work.
Here's a link to where I've posted my paper to GoogleDocs. Enjoy!
As meditation is one of my interests, I decided to search for scientific data concerning the effects of meditation, in a physiological, psychological, and neurological sense. While there are preliminary studies being done, unfortunately there isn't really all that much research available. Nonetheless, I was able to find enough to squeeze the paper out, and I hope that more progress will be made in this area of work.
Here's a link to where I've posted my paper to GoogleDocs. Enjoy!
Friday, February 25, 2011
B'nei Machshava Tova: אם תעירו ואם תעוררו את האהבה עד שתחפץ (שיר השירים ...
B'nei Machshava Tova: אם תעירו ואם תעוררו את האהבה עד שתחפץ (שיר השירים ...: "אם תעירו ואם תעוררו את האהבה עד שתחפץ (שיר השירים ב:ז The RaMBaN (in HaEmunah v'haBitachon 19, which can be found in the Kisvei RaMBaN&..."
Bidding Farewell
Rabbi N.Z. Dessler's shloshim (30-day anniversary of death) was two days ago, and I was finally able to figure out a way to upload the eulogies from the Cleveland levaya onto eSnips yesterday. One of the files exceeded the limit, and it was a real pain to figure out a way to split that mega file into two normal sized files while retaining the quality.
I know that many of the hespeidim are available for download, by I have presented them here for your convenience. They are worth listening to...
I know that many of the hespeidim are available for download, by I have presented them here for your convenience. They are worth listening to...
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